Cord fastener



3, 1966 F. E. WOLCOTT ETAL 3,267,540

CORD FASTENER Filed March 23, 1965 3 GA Tum s TTTA Y m@ m m wmmm m l R W.OP. m E W R KEN NT ALH RAT. FWN 6 vl 7 B f2 3,2675% Ce Fatented August 23, 1966 3,267,540 CORD FASTENER Frank E. Wolcott, West Hartford, Conn, and Walter Dorwin Teague, Alpine, and Anthony P. Montalbano, Jackson Heights, N.Y., assignors to The Hartford (Zornpany, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Mar. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 442,030 4 Claims. (Cl. 24130) This invention generally relates to releasable devices for tying packages and is more specifically directed to an improved releasable cord fastener for adjustably tightening and securing a cord about an article or group of articles for packaging and/ or for convenient handling.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved fastener which is particularly suited for repeated use in temporarily securing the ends of a cord wrapped around a bundle of articles such as clothing, for example, without knotting or cutting the cord to tie or release the bundle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device of the type described having an attractive appearance and which, in addition to being rugged and durable for repeated use over a long useful life span, is manufactured at low cost and is easy to use for convenient and rapid fastening of a cord.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a preferred embodiment of the cord fastener of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an edge view of the fastener of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is -a longitudinal sect-ion view of the fastener taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section view of the fastener taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a reduced front plan view of the fastener additionally showing the ends of the cord secured to the fastener; and

FIG. 6 is a reduced rear plan view of the fastener, similar to that shown in FIG. 5, illustrating the positioning of the ends of the cord on the undersurface of the fastener.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, a preferred embodiment of the cord fastener of the present invention is shown having a body with an elongated base portion, generally designated by the numeral 10, and an elongated but shorter ear portion, generally designated by the numeral 12, laterally of the base portion and adjacent one end 14 thereof. The fastener body is formed of a suitable high strength, rigid material, such as metal or plastic, which is shaped as described below to a desired form with smooth surfaces and edges.

The elongated base portion 10 is shown as being of substantially planar form with opposite rounded ends 14 and 18, the latter end 18 being curved downwardly from the plane of the rest of the base portion. The end 18 has an eye 20 for permanently securing one end of a flexible cord or rope 22 which, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, is fed through the eye 20 to form a loop that is secured by a metal band 24.

The ear portion 12 includes a lobe 26 formed adjacent end 14 of base 10. The lobe 26 of the ear portion and the end 14 of the base portion respectively have spaced opposed edges 28 and 30 which preferably diverge approximately 20 from an apex 32 to form a first or V- shaped notch 34 at what will be designated as the free end of the fastener body. The lobe 26 of the ear portion 12 is illustrated as being turned slightly upwardly at the free end of the fastener body such that the edge 28 is gently curved from the plane of the base portion 10 to provide one edge of the V-shaped notch 34 raised relative to the other edge 30, as best seen in FIG. 2.

The outer side edge of the ear portion 12 extends arcuately from lobe 26 toward the eye end 18 of the base portion and is inclined from the plane of the base portion to form a lip 36 which smoothly blends into a rim 38 defining an inner end of the ear portion opposite lobe 26 which is raised from the plane of the base portion.

Beginning at the peak of the rim, which is approximately in longitudinal alignment with the peak of the lobe 26 at the free end of the fastener body, the ear portion 12 is provided with a generally S-shaped peripheral edge 39 forming a convexly curved projection 40 which merges with a longitudinal edge 41 of the base portion 10 to define, intermediate the longitudinal ends of the fastener body, a generally Lshaped notch designated 42 opposed to the V-shaped notch 34-.

That is, the rim 38 smoothly curves around from the outer edge of the eat 12 toward the edge 41 of the base portion 10, and the projection 40 (which is approximately at the midpoint of the S-shaped periphery) is closely spaced from the edge 41 of the base portion. It will be noted that, in addition to being raised from the plane of the base portion 10, the undersurface of the projection 40 is convexly curved upwardly or shaped like the outside of a cup. Thus, the ]-shaped notch 42 reduces to a constricted passage 44, between the tip of the projection 40 and the edge 41 of the base portion, which passage 44 opens into an enlarged mouth 46 for receiving the free or working end of the cord 22.

As the working end of the cord 22 is being wrapped in the desired manner around a bundle of clothing, for example, the fastener body is manually held and the cord 22 is initially brought under the fastener body and drawn taut after being passed through the constricted passage 44 into the enlarged mouth 46 for the first time. The smooth surface of the fastener body and smooth edges of the mouth 46 provide for sliding the cord 22 such that it is freely movable longitudinally of the fastener body as the slack or play is taken up to tension the cord. The cord is then drawn along the top of the fastener body and through the V-shaped notch 34 to complete one wrap of the cord around the fastener body whereupon the diverging degrees 28, 30 lock the cord 22 against withdrawal. The cord is then passed under the fastener body a second time and redrawn through the constricted passage 44 into the mouth 46 to form a second partial wrap 52 around the fastener body.

The end or tip 48 of the I-shaped not-ch is directed away from the opposed V-shaped notch 34 to form mouth 46 with a width greater than the diameter of the cord 22 but slightly less than twice the cord diameter. Thus, as the cord 22 is wrapped about the fastener body, the first wrap 50 of the cord in the enlarged mouth 46 of the L shaped notch significantly reduces the clearance between the constricted passage 44 and the secondary notch portion of the end or tip 48 of the J-shaped notch.

It will now be seen that the convexly curved undersurface of the projection 40 permits entry of the second wrap 52 of the cord 22 into the secondary notch or tip of the J-shaped notch, and the second wrap 52 of the cord will then be securely wedged within the mouth 46 between the first wrap 50 and the S-shaped edge 39. Thus, in addition to being locked in the V-shaped notch 34, the adjacent wraps 50 and 52 of the cord are pressed into direct surface contact with one another in the mouth 46 to provide additional frictional resistance to any cord slippage when the bundle is being handled. When it is desired to release the fastener, the first wrap 50 of the cord may be expeditiously withdrawn from the passage 44 when slack in the cord may be readily obtained as when applying the cord to a bundle of clothing. Alternatively, the second wrap 52 of the cord may be pulled out of the secondary notch portion of the mouth 46 and through the passage 44 to release the cord. This is pos sible, for example, even when the cord is exceptionally taut around a highly compressed bundle, for the convexly rounded undersurfaee of the raised projection 40 provides the necessary clearance whereby the second wrap 52 may be withdrawn from its tightly wedged position.

Finally, the raised edge 28 of the V-shaped notch 34 acts to guide the cord at the free end of the fastener and the raised edge of the ear 12 extending from the lobe 26 to the projection 40 assures easy wrapping of the cord about the ear position 12 even when the fastener is embedded in or tgihtly pressed against the bundle which is being secured. Moreover, the downwardly curved end 18 of the base portion assures that the cord fastener will lie fiat on the bundle.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims,

We claim:

1. For use in tying an article with a flexible cord, a cord fastener comprising a generally flat body having a substantially planar, elongated base portion with an opening for securing the cord at one end of the fastener body and an ear portion at the opposite end of the fastener body, the ear portion being integral with the base portion at one side thereof, the ear portion and the base portion having spaced opposed edges at said opposite end of the fastener body forming a first notch for receiving the cord, the ear portion and a longitudinal edge of the base portion forming intermediate the ends of the fastener body a generally J-shaped wedging notch for the cord opposed to the first notch, and the J-shaped notch providing a passage and an enlarged mouth for loosely receiving a first wrap of the cord, the enlarged mouth forming a secondary notch at the tip of the J-shaped notch for receiving a second wrap of the cord and for wedging the first and second wraps of the cord within the enlarged mouth of the Lshaped notch.

2. The cord fastener of claim 1 wherein the ear portion includes a projection directed toward said longitudinal edge of the base portion and forming therewith the passage of the J-shaped notch, the projection having a rim raised with respect to the plane of the base portion and a convexly rounded undersurface.

3. The cord fastener of claim 1 wherein the enlarged mouth of the J-shaped notch has a width greater than the diameter of the cord but less than twice the cord diameter.

4. The cord fastener of claim 1 wherein the ear portion includes an outer edge having a rounded undersurface convexly curved upward and raised from the plane of the base portion, and wherein the spaced opposed edges of the first notch diverge to provide a V-shaped locking notch, one of the spaced opposed edges being raised relative to the other to facilitate locking engagement of the cord.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,252,624 1/1918 Spies 24--18 1,852,887 5/1932 Lossius. 1,915,060 6/1933 Kocska. 2,334,728 11/1943 Scott 2418 WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner,

B. A. GELAK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. FOR USE IN TYPING AN ARTICLE WITH A FLEXIBLE CORD, A CORD FASTENER COMPRISING A GENERALLY FLAT BODY HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR, ELONGATED BASE PORTION WITH AN OPENING FOR SECURING THE CORD AT ONE END OF THE FASTENER BODY AND AN EAR PORTION AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE FASTENER BODY, THE EAR PORTION BEING INTEGRAL WITH THE BASE PORTION AT ONE SIDE THEREOF, THE EAR PORION AND THE BASE PORTION HAVING SPACED OPPOSED EDGES AT SAID OPPOSITE END OF THE FASTENER BODY FORMING A FIRST NOTCH FOR RECEIVING THE CORD, THE EAR PORTION AND A LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF THE BASE PORTION FORMING INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF THE FASTENER BODY A GENERALLY J-SHAPED WEDGING NOTCH FOR THE CORD OPPOSED TO THE FIRST NOTCH, AND THE J-SHAPED NOTCH PROVIDING A PASSAGE AND AN ENLARGED MOUTH FOR LOSSELY RECEIVING A FIRST WRAP OF THE CORD, THE ENLARGED MOUTH FORMING A SECONDARY NOTCH AT THE TIP OF THE J-SHAPED NOTCH FOR RECEIVING A SECOND WRAP OF THE CORD AND FOR WEDGING THE FIRST AND SECOND WRAPS OF THE CORD WITHIN THE ENLARGED MOUTH OF THE J-SHAPED NOTCH. 